Princess Nandini of Jaislemeher was the only daughter of King Dushyanth and he pampered her as such. She was spoiled with every luxury one could imagine; her feet had never even touched the bare ground and so it was only natural, that she developed...
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"The enemy is taking charge of the Palace, Princess. We have lost," a servant came in to inform me. I shut the book I was reading and looked up just in case she had decided to play a cruel prank on me.
I wish I had not looked up. I inhaled sharply as I realized that this was not the only piece of bad news she had arrived with.
"What... what about my-my brothers and fa-father," my voice shook. Deep down, I already knew the truth. I don't know how I knew but I did. She didn't reply. I got up from my bed where I reading and walked up to her.
"My father and my brothers!" I exclaimed.
"I am sorry, Princess," the servant replied not making eye contact with me. "They fought bravely and martyred."
The whole world around me collapsed and I sunk to my knees. I understood what the servant had said but I needed to process it.
My father was gone.
My brothers were gone.
I had no one left.
We had lost the war.
Yesterday, the Prince of Suryagarh had declared war on Jaisalmer. Father had assured me that there was no possibility of Suryagarh winning. We had a larger army and support from the Mughals. Plus, we had the high-post advantage from the castle.
I was not worried about their safe return, they always returned home even in the worst wars, even when we lost.
But they would not anymore?
Never again?
I was nothing without them.
I screamed and hurled the nearest object across the room. Tears were flowing from my eyes as I rested my face against the ground. The pain was truly unbearable, like pain I had never experienced before. There was a pit in my stomach scared of what lay ahead of me.
How would I live without my Father or my three brothers? They were all I knew, the four walls of the room I grew up in. I did not know what was outside or how to face it now that they were gone.
A life without my father? A life without my Father.
The thought was unfathomable.
I tried to breathe but it seemed like I was too incompetent even for that simple task.
"Yuvraj Abhimanyu requires your presence," a guard with the enemy's emblem on his chest said. I hadn't even noticed when he had entered my room. No one ever had without my permission.
Father would beat them bloody at such a mistake.
Father.
The realization that I was now an orphan hit me like an Elephant.
I ignored him and stared out into the distance with tears still rushing down my face. My head hurt from how much I had cried in the past few minutes and my heart pounded against my ribcage as I tried to deny everything in hopes that it would work out.
